The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) says there are indications narcotic drug barons are venturing into drug counterfeiting business. The Head of Communications of the Food and Drugs Board, Mr James Lartey, attributed the development to tightened security measures in many countries. He was speaking at a press briefing on the activities of the FDB at its new Central Regional office. He noted that it had come to light that drug barons made equally bigger profits dealing in counterfeit drugs. The situation, he said, placed a responsibility on the FDB to work harder to ensure the safety of the public. He said it was very difficult to identify fake drugs as manufacturers were now very sophisticated. Mr Lartey said items recently counterfeited included condoms, antibiotics and canned foods. He said another crucial problem was to do with herbal preparations adding that the results of tests of some of the seized herbal preparations were disturbing. Mr Lartey stated that the FDB was not against herbal preparation centres, but interested in ensuring that they lived up to their mandate of ensuring the safety of the public. “There are crooks in the business just to make money and people who want to enrich themselves,” he said. He called for effective collaboration with other sectors to help win the fight against counterfeit foods and drugs. He said a section of the society had described the FDB’s activities as having political undertones, and said it was unfortunate. The Central Regional Head of the FDB, Mr Joseph Bennie, said there was a lot of deception on the part of sellers. He complained about the many advertisements of herbal drugs claiming to treat various ailments. He stated that the FDB now had an established office in Cape Coast for the Central Region and said the office would soon conduct surprise inspections to school kitchens and food vendors to assess the state of the food being produced at these places. He also stated that the FDB would organise training programmes for the community to sensitise consumers to the need to be more careful in their purchase of consumer items.